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Dan Ashworth had been at the FA since 2012.
Dan Ashworth had been at the FA since 2012. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images
Dan Ashworth had been at the FA since 2012. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

Technical director Dan Ashworth quits FA to take up post at Brighton

This article is more than 5 years old

Ashworth was close ally of England manager Gareth Southgate
Brighton were one of several clubs to have shown interest

Dan Ashworth, the man credited with playing a key part in reviving the England set-up at junior and senior levels, has resigned as technical director at the Football Association to join Brighton.

Ashworth, who joined the FA in 2012 initially as director of elite development before his promotion three years later, will leave in the new year and begin his role at Brighton in the spring.

He had attracted interest from clubs in the Premier League and abroad in recent times with his reputation enhanced by the national team’s fourth-place finish at the World Cup. Ashworth was a close ally of the England manager, Gareth Southgate, and drew up the elite player development plan known as ‘England DNA’ aimed at creating more successful sides across senior men’s and women’s football.

Ashworth’s departure could be perceived as a blow to Southgate. The 47-year-old, a former player at Norwich, previously held the technical director role at West Bromwich in the top flight and while at the FA saw the national men’s under-17s and under-20s win their respective World Cups, the under-19s become European champions and the under-21s reach the semi-finals of the European Championship.

Ashworth will oversee Brighton’s academy and medical departments, as well as player recruitment at all levels. He said: “This is a huge opportunity for me

… I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Football Association, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the chairman Greg Clarke, CEO Martin Glenn, England managers Gareth Southgate and Phil Neville, as well as the coaches and staff at all levels who have supported me so well.”

Ashworth had been asked about his future during the World Cup in Russia, and suggested a return to the club game would appeal. “I’ve been here five and a half years,” he said. “I loved my time in club football and at some stage I’m sure I will go back – either when they get sick and bored of me here or when there is another opportunity.”

Southgate said: “In terms of the work of a technical director, I don’t think he could have had a bigger impact with the plans he put in place at The FA and the way that the national teams have progressed in the time Dan has been in charge.”

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The appointment of a technical director will not affect the positions of the manager, Chris Hughton, the head of recruitment, Paul Winstanley, the academy manager, John Morling, or the head of medical services, Adam Brett.

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